Finish Well (Colossians 4.7-18)

 

Introduction

Soon we’ll be hearing about nominations for Sports Personality of the Year. I suspect that many of us have our sporting heroes, people who inspire us by their achievements in whatever game they play. To my mind, none compares with one athlete who was born in June 1940, the 20th of 22 children in her family! Her birth was premature and she weighed in at only 4.5 pounds. She was often poorly in her first year, due in part to being so tiny, so her mother nursed her through measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox and double pneumonia.

She was from Tennessee and this was the era of segregation in the southern states. So she and her mother were not permitted to be cared for at the whites only local hospital. Then it was discovered that her left leg and foot were becoming weak and deformed. She was told she had polio. The doctor said that she would never walk. Even though it was 50 miles away, her mother took her to a special hospital in Memphis twice a week for two years, until she was able to walk with the aid of a metal leg brace and an orthopaedic shoe.

Her name was Wilma, and she was blessed with parents who were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When she was 8, she watched her older sister Yolanda play basketball and, even though her legs were in braces, she said to her mum, “One day I want to do that.” And her mum said to her, “Honey, if you believe, you will.” And she said “I believe, mamma.” On her twelfth birthday, Wilma said to her parents, “Momma, daddy, I have a birthday surprise for you.” And she slowly took her calliper off and walked unaided for the first time in her life.

Soon after, when the basketball club selected youngsters for the new season, Yolanda was picked for the team but Wilma was not. She was heartbroken. But her dad refused to accept it. He looked the coach in the eye and said, “You take one of my daughters, you take ‘em both. I am not leaving until you take Wilma as well.” So he took them both but at first he kept Wilma on the bench and she was the only member of the squad to suffer the indignity of having a vest with no number on it.

Wilma kept praying, kept believing and finally, she got a few games. It was then, running around on that court, that she was spotted by a man called Ed Temple, who coached the women's track team at Tennessee State University. His trained eye saw immediately that Wilma was not built for basketball, but for the running track, and he invited her to a summer sports camp. Wilma rapidly got better and better.

She even started to win races, first in her town, then in her state, and then nationally, even going on to the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 at the tender age of 16, where she won a bronze medal in the 4x400 relay. “Honey, if you believe, you will.” “I believe, mamma.”

Four years later in 1960, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympic Games again, this time in Rome, where she won the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the 4x400 meters relay, becoming the first female American athlete to win three Olympic gold medals, and breaking three world records.

When she returned from Rome, she was honoured with ticker tape parades and a White House reception with President Kennedy. But back in her hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee they planned two hero’s welcome parties; one for whites and one for blacks. Wilma said, “No. You organise one event for everyone or I’m not going.” They backed down. Her victory reception was the first fully integrated municipal event in the town’s history.

Never mind Sports Personality of the Year, Wilma will forever be my sports personality of all time.

And I tell her beautiful story today because she is the perfect modern example of someone who had a bad start (through no fault of her own) but, by the grace of God, ended well.

This is what I want to talk about from the last verses of Colossians as we bring to an end this series today.

Let’s read what it says; we’re in chapter 4, starting at v7.

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here. My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

At first sight, that is barely more than a list of names of mostly minor Bible characters. Most of us I suspect know a little bit about Mark, Luke, Barnabas and perhaps Onesimus who’s the converted runaway slave we read about in the Letter to Philemon. And of course, Paul is in the top three most prominent people in the New Testament. I’m sure we all know who he is. But who on earth are Tychicus, Aristarchus, Justus, Epaphras, Demas, Nympha, and Archippus?

And yet look at the words used to describe what these mostly bit-part people do; being co-workers, telling news, encouraging hearts, wrestling in prayer, comforting others, opening their homes, working hard, completing tasks…

This is a snapshot of a church in which different people, each with a unique contribution, each with their mix of spiritual gifts are coming and going, and all pulling together to advance the kingdom of God. This is what I want King’s to be, don’t you?

But I want to single out just two of these names because I feel God wants to speak into our situation here at King’s, and maybe to you as an individual, through their lives.

1) Mark

The first character I want to look at this morning is Mark. Mark, like Wilma Rudolph started badly but he finished well.

We know a little bit about Mark from the Book of Acts. He was Barnabas’ cousin. Barnabas, known as a great encourager you might remember, accompanied Paul on his first church planting tour. And he said to Paul, “I think my cousin Mark would be good team member too. Let’s take him with us.” So Paul agreed and off they went. But not long later, Mark turned back. Before the going got really tough he was out of there. He let the team down.

We’re not told why. Some speculate that he simply got travel sick or homesick. Maybe it was Paul’s demanding personality and leadership style that he couldn’t live with. Others wonder if perhaps, as a Jew, he was uncomfortable with the gospel going to the gentiles. It could have been any of these or all of them. Or some other reason. All we know is that he said, “I’m out.” Paul got annoyed about it. He felt let down and he refused point blank to take him again on a subsequent trip.

Mark was a quitter and he’d blown it. There was a huge blot on his C.V. He was damaged goods. And he was off Paul’s team.

Some of you might wonder if you have made such a huge mistake earlier in your life that it has put an end to your usefulness to God. You might have let someone down. You might have fallen morally. You might have made a catastrophic error of judgement. You might carry a sense of failure and regret. You might think “God can never use me now.” If that is you, you need to think again.

I’m not saying past mistakes don’t carry consequences; they do. But they do not define you. They are not a life sentence. With God, as long as you’re still breathing, there’s always time for another chance.

The leader of Passion Church in Atlanta, Louie Giglio, says “If you’re thinking that you don’t deserve a second chance from God, it’s important to remember that you didn’t deserve the first one either.”

Karma is an idea from other religions. We believe in grace.

15 years after that painful bust up; Paul says here (v10), “if Mark comes to you welcome him.” He doesn’t say, “Avoid him, he’ll always let you down, he did it to me once.”

Tellingly (in v11) he calls Mark “a co-worker (not a former co-worker) for the kingdom of God”, so he must by this time have been restored to the apostolic team and he even says that he has proved himself. He was a comfort to Paul in his imprisonment.

In his very last letter, 2nd Timothy, written shortly before his death, Paul says, “get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” By the grace of God, Mark turned it round.

Afterwards, piecing together evidence from the New Testament and other first documents from that time, it seems certain that Mark later teamed up with Peter in Rome and it was there he wrote Mark’s Gospel, based on his notes from Peter’s preaching.

Unpromising beginnings. Failure and disappointment. Rejection and exclusion. But that did not define him - and he finished well.

When I was at school, I was pretty average academically and invariably bottom of the class at maths, but I was a pretty good cross-country runner. In fact, I used to run for my school in Essex County races and I was no Wilma Rudolph, but I did OK. I loved middle-distance running. 

The one race I remember best was a 1,500 metres, the whole class of 30 boys – 4 times round a stadium size running track. The race started and I was tucked in to a group of about six or seven, setting a decent but comfortable pace. Then, after about a lap and a half, out of nowhere, a skinny kid called John Gattrell kicked hard and opened up a sizeable lead. He accelerated away from the pack and as we took the bell, which signals the start of the last lap, he was already half way round the track and closing in on victory.

But pace setters usually burn out. And I said to myself, “if you make a move now, and give it everything you’ve got, you might catch him.” You could see from 200m back he was beginning to struggle, his legs were full of lactic acid, he was spent. I started to kick into a good stride. The gap closed. He was so far ahead but I was travelling much faster. I could see it was going to be close. As I turned into the last bend I began to sprint. Gattrell was virtually at walking pace and gasping for breath. And I pipped him on the line, winning by a fraction of a second. I’ll never forget it. Sports Personality of the Year eh!?

But I learned that day that no matter how badly, or how well, you start, the only thing that actually counts is how you finish.

2) Demas

Which brings me to the second character we’re going to zoom in on in this list of names; Demas in v14. He is the opposite to Mark. Demas began really well.

Here we find him (in v14) sending his greetings along with Luke. This is the company he keeps; Luke is a solid, dependable travelling companion who also of course goes on to write a Gospel as well as Acts.

In the Letter to Philemon, Paul describes Demas as a fellow worker. Paul doesn’t consider him a faceless lackey. He is not a minion running around doing unglamorous errands but he’s actually on Paul’s team!

Demas is seeing hundreds of conversions, churches planted, signs and wonders; his travelling band is talk of the town… What a life! Working with this brilliant and passionate guy Paul who has driven out demons, raised the dead, broken out of jails and speaks in tongues more than all the Corinthians. Demas got that gig! He is a trusted partner.

But in 2nd Timothy 4.10 we hear about Demas again. Tragically, we read about a guy who started so well, but finished badly.

“Demas,” writes Paul, “because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”

Why did his passionate heart for God cool and grow cold? It says “because he loved this world.” Was he discouraged by all that hardship and rejection? Was he embarrassed about Paul’s chains? What was it about Thessalonica? Was there a woman there? Was it just the creature comforts?

Demas walks away. He throws in the towel. And he leaves the purposes of God for his life behind. He’s never heard of again in the New Testament.

Jesus warned that this would sometimes happen in his Parable of the Sower.

“Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants… The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8.7 and 14).

In theAsk Pastor John podcast recently John Piper said that Paul, Peter and the writer to the Hebrews also describe people who make a seemingly good start in the Christian life only to then deny what they once claimed to believe.

And what’s striking in all these descriptions of shipwrecking the faith in the New Testament is that the rocks on which faith shatters are not intellectual problems with Christianity, problems of reason like the historical truthfulness of the Bible or science or the problem of suffering. In every case, walking away from faith is summed up as the heart’s preference for sin.

Not that God ever loses one of his children or any of his chosen ones. In fact, Romans 8.30 says: “Those whom [God] predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Not one of those that God makes a son or daughter will ever be lost. And you can have absolute assurance of your salvation today as long as you are walking with the Lord today.

I don’t want to hear about an experience you had 20 or 30 years ago, however amazing it may have been, if it’s not still real now! If your testimony about being saved is genuine, your faith will still be alive to this very day.

People can – and do – walk away from professing faith. You can make a seemingly good start in the Christian life and then prefer the world to treasuring Christ and lose everything.

Ending

Mark started badly and finished well. As a result, we’ve got Mark’s Gospel in our Bibles. There’s a Saint Mark’s church in our town. There’s a Saint Mark’s square in Venice. We all know people called Mark, named after this man.

Demas started well but finished badly. Consequently, none of us know anyone called Demas. There’s no Saint Demas’ Cathedral or Saint Demas anything. We never hear anything about him again; he’s just a tragic footnote in the pages of our Bibles listing names that we are tempted to skim read.

Some of us maybe don’t know the Lord yet. Is today the day you decide to give your heart to Christ? You might think, “What will my friends and family think? What will this cost me?”

C.S. Lewis put it this way, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” Don’t put it off any longer. Put your faith in Christ today.

Some us have known the Lord only a short time. Don’t be like Demas. Stay on track. Keep the faith. Don’t let your heart grow cold.

Some of us started walking with the Lord a long time ago. Have you drifted lately? Do you need, like Mark did, to come right back into the heart of his purposes for you? Do it today.

Let’s stand to pray…

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 20 November 2022

 

 

 

 

 

God at Work (Colossians 3.22 - 4.1)

Introduction

A woman is walking along a road one day, and she notices two local council workers working by the roadside.

She is quite impressed with their effort and application, but she can't quite work out what their job actually is. So she stops and watches them for a bit but still she can’t understand what they are supposed to be doing.

Finally, she goes up to them and says, “Morning gents! I can see how hard you're both working, but I’m intrigued to know what your job actually is? It seems that one of you digs a hole, and then the other one just fills it back in again.”

“Oh,” they say, “That’s right. Brian, who plants the trees, is off sick today!”

It’s an amusing little story, and maybe you’ve heard it before, but I tell it because I think it sort of illustrates the futility and pointlessness many people feel about their work.

Sadly, there are many who find their work tediously repetitive or pointless. And as a consequence, they feel their lives lack meaning.

By contrast, in my own working life over the years, I’ve had colleagues at times for whom work is frantically stressful, even overwhelming.

A farmer was once asked “What’s the hardest thing about milking cows?” He said, “The hardest thing about milking cows is that they never stay milked!”

Work can feel like one relentless treadmill that sucks the life out of you.

I’ve been in working environments I would describe as attritional, unfriendly, even toxic. Other times going to work has been energising and exhilarating.

What would a Christ-honouring workplace look like? How should a Christian employee approach his or her working day? How should a Christian manager or boss run his or her business?

These are the kind of things we’re going to look at this morning together. It’s 5 verses from the end of Colossians 3 and the beginning of Colossians 4.

It’s just a short passage, tantalisingly brief actually. People have asked me before why the Bible doesn’t say more about work.

After all, for most of us, our job occupies the majority of our waking hours between the ages of 20 and 65.

But God’s word actually says quite a bit more about work than we might realise.

Reading through Proverbs this month, I noted over 30 verses about work. For example, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.” And this one; “He who gathers crops in the summer is a prudent son but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.”

Someone wrote recently that out of the 52 parables Jesus told, 45 are set in a workplace context.

And out of 40 miracles in the Book of Acts, 39 of them take place in the marketplace.

I confess I haven’t checked those stats, but I suspect they’re pretty accurate.

Furthermore, Jesus spent 18 years working with his hands, from his bar mitzvah at the age of 12 at which point he entered his father’s business, until he began his preaching ministry aged about 30. That means he spent over 50% of his life as a manual labourer.

You might think, “what a waste; he could have healed loads more sick people, given loads more amazing teaching and turned loads more water into wine…”

But it wasn’t a waste. Working productively and taking care to do a job well are important to God.

So I want to encourage you to not think of your Christian life as consisting of Sunday and maybe Wednesday night. It’s Monday to Friday 9-5 as well. And, in fact, every moment of every day.

Your work, whatever it is, full-time or part-time, paid or unpaid, is a calling, a ministry.

And please don’t think this is not relevant for you because you’re retired, or unable to work on health grounds, or out of work for other reasons.

What I’m going to say this morning also applies to the way you do your housework, your gardening, decorating, cooking, looking after your children or grandchildren, serving at church or studying.

What we tend to find in the Bible is that God is interested in your work, not so much because of what you do, but because of how you do it.

So, with all that said by way of introduction, let’s read Colossians 3.22 to 4.1.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong [that’s talking about masters as well as slaves] will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Slavery in the Ancient World

The first thing to say straightaway about what we just read is to acknowledge that the context, like all the New Testament, is first century Roman Empire, in which slavery was not just widespread but all-pervasive.

And slavery was commonplace not only there; it was the unquestioned norm everywhere in the ancient world.

I remember the shock and puzzlement I felt when I first came across passages like this as a young Christian. Especially the fact that Paul seems to be quite neutral about it.

No one seems to know what percentage of the population in the Roman Empire was enslaved; an educated guess is about 30% though some think that slaves possibly outnumbered free citizens.

We’re talking about tens of millions of individuals certainly, and it was a central component of the Roman economy.

It’s thought that New Testament churches had a disproportionately high number of slaves compared to the general population.

We tend to forget this in our land of great cathedrals and bishops in the House of Lords, but the vast majority of 1st Century Christians were poor, powerless and persecuted.

Modern slavery is of course illegal and operates in the shadows. People get trapped into it and trafficked across borders by unscrupulous criminal gangs. In the Roman world though it was entirely legal and just accepted as the way things were.

There were different ways you could end up enslaved. Some were captives of war or victims of kidnapping or piracy. More commonly, people became slaves as a punishment for crimes they committed. Some sold themselves or - tragically - their children into it to settle debts they couldn’t pay.

Under Roman law, slaves had no human rights of any kind and were considered as property, not as persons. Documents from that time describe enslaved people not as employees, but as tools or equipment of a business. It’s mostly complaints from masters about them being disloyal, lazy or dishonest.

As a consequence, slaves were usually treated like animals. They could be bought, sold, mistreated, sexually exploited or even killed for sport without consequences.

This was the brutal, harsh, unfair, cruel society into which Jesus was born and to which the gospel first came.

However bad you feel your workplace is, and I get it that sometimes our working environment can be genuinely awful and humiliatingly underpaid, it doesn’t compare with the way of life endured by some the people Paul was writing to here in this church in Colossae.

So why didn’t the gospel challenge the status quo of slavery in society more than it did?

If you’ve ever seen the animated film Ice Age, you’ll not forget the opening scene in which a squirrel called Scrat tries to open an acorn on the ice so he can eat it.

Alas for him, instead of cracking the acorn, he makes a small crack in the ice. And the crack opens up into a crevice. And, with a growing sense panic in Scrat’s eyes, the crevice gets bigger and, with ominous rumblings, it becomes a giant rift valley. And then before long it’s a massive tectonic fault which splits into two continents.

I mention that scene because it’s a bit like what the gospel did to slavery in the Roman Empire.

The gospel is the acorn. Roman slavery is the vast continental ice sheet.

When Paul said that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, he was saying that these are now redundant categories for Christians.

They no longer define us, nor can they possibly divide us, because every one of us, whatever our ethnic background or social status are first and foremost in Christ.

Because of Christ, Paul told free people that they had been bought with a price – just like a slave.

Because of Christ, Paul told enslaved people that they had been set free from sin and death.

He said all of us, from the richest and noblest to the poorest and humblest, all share one loaf and drink from the same cup.

He said we are all brothers and sisters; members of one another; we are all on the same level.

This is how the gospel introduced dignity and equality and humanity into a sphere of society where it had never existed before.

The little acorn had started to crack the ice! As the impact of the gospel on civilisation steadily grew, the endorsement of slavery steadily declined.

Back in the first century, most masters in the Roman world would have thought it bizarre to be told to treat a slave with kindness and consideration.

What it means for employers

But here, he says, “You guys in charge, if you have become Christians, you cannot go on like before. Those days are over. You are under new management now. You’re no longer top dog. You report to one higher than you.”

Chapter 4, verse 1. “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.”

The Bible contrasts sharply with all other literature of the time on relationships between slaves and masters.

What you find in secular records is advice on how to squeeze the maximum out your workforce as if they were just tools or machines.

But Paul absolutely makes a stand on this point; never mind convention, forget culture, whatever about customs; these people who work under you are human beings and they have rights and moral options.

So if you’re a Christian in charge of this workplace you’re going to provide them with what is right and fair. From now on there are going to be really good working conditions.

“Because” - and here’s the revolutionary thought – “you know that you also have a Master in heaven.”

In other words, you’re going to have to stand before Jesus when he comes to judge the living and the dead, and give an account of how you treated those working for you.

And, as he says at the end of chapter 3, “Anyone who does wrong [he’s talking to masters as well as slaves] will be repaid for their wrongs.”

In our context, that translates as follows:

If you’re an employer, or a manager, if you have staff who answer to you, because you answer to Christ, your boss, you’ll treat each member of staff equally; no favourites. You’ll take an interest in them as people. You’ll pay them what they’re worth. You’ll respect their time off. You’ll not tell them to do anything you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. You’ll give them opportunities to develop their skills. When you have to discipline them for unacceptable performance, you’ll do it fairly and proportionately.

I remember when Kathie started a community nursing job when we lived in France. On her first day, she came home and said, “Do you know, I think my new boss, Doctor Marze, is a Christian.”

I said “How can you tell?” I thought that maybe he wore a cross on his lapel or had a fish on his car or a poster on his office wall or a Bible on his desk.

But no, she said, “I can just… tell.” She had been with him one day and he hadn’t said one word to her about Jesus.

What convinced her that he was a Christian is the way he spoke to people, his gentleness, his fairness. He took a genuine interest in others, especially anyone in trouble or pain. And he was fun to be with, and it was clean fun, he was full of joy.

She mentioned that he had adopted three children, and didn’t seem to really care about status symbols. He drove an old beat-up Citroen 2CV and evidently lived quite simply for a doctor.

She looked him up online, (nothing like stalking your boss on social media), and it turns out that she was right. He was a charismatic Catholic deacon, very actively involved in his local church.

Isn’t that a great witness? Kathie asked him later about his faith and he was happy to talk about Jesus with great enthusiasm.

But it was his lifestyle and character and personality that provoked the question.

People at work can tell if you are born again and have been filled with the Holy Spirit not so much by what you say but by who you are.

What it means for employees

So much for bosses. What about workers?

You’re not just some random, replaceable nobody getting a wage for a day’s graft. You’re an ambassador for Christ. Lift up your head! You represent the kingdom of God in your workplace. How do you want to be seen by colleagues, contractors, clients, customers, and your employer?

Let me paraphrase v22-25 the best I can and try to frame it in 21^st century terms.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

Employees, you should do what the boss asks you to do not just when they’re around but do an honest day’s work, offering it up to God.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

And don’t just scrape by with the bare minimum. Give your absolute best. Put your heart and soul into it. You might be badly paid on earth, but there are eternal, heavenly bonuses that will recognise all your hard work.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism.

Remember this; ultimately your boss is Christ himself. Don’t think he’ll let you off doing a lousy job just because you’re a Christian. He doesn’t drop his standards for you just because you’re one of his loved children.

God is looking for people who are thorough, industrious, and who end the day able to say I gave 100%.

The Bible sets out a vision of a Christian worker who’s always cheerful, amenable and hard-working because they treat their work as an act of worship.

Contrast that with what sometimes blights a workplace; people always saying, “that’s not my job”, Olympic-level wasting of company time, bad language, constantly complaining about the company, cursing the boss behind his back, clock watching, always arriving late and leaving early, jobsworth pettiness, computer says no unhelpfulness, slacking, skiving and cutting corners

And it doesn’t matter if you’re a brain surgeon or a toilet attendant or a stay-at-home mum or a student or retired.

The reformer Martin Luther once said, “The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays – and not just because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making excellent shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

Turn your job or daily activity into an act of worship. Say to yourself, whatever I’ve been asked to do today, it’s got to be good enough for the Lord.

When you take that attitude into work, even the dullest job can be a joy.

Ending

So, as I end...

What do you think God is saying to you today about your work; part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid?

Do you need to receive grace from God today so you can please him more in your workplace, whether you’re a boss or an employee?

Do you want to put a bad attitude down at the foot of the cross and leave it there so that tomorrow there’s a new you in the office?

Do you want to ask God for a spiritual breakthrough so you can have words of knowledge and be a witness to your colleagues or customers, like in Baba and Bisi’s testimony today?

If you’re able to do so, let’s stand to pray…

 

 Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 6 November 2022